Truck flow gets normal at UAE- Saudi border

Abu Dhabi: The flow of trucks crossing the Al Ghuwifat border has been normalised as the number of trucks on waiting has come down to about 1,500 on Monday evening, truck drivers told Gulf News.

"This is normal; always more than 1,500 trucks will be in the parking lots inside the border", said Joy Antony, an Indian truck driver who reached the boarder on Sunday morning.

As Gulf News reported on Sunday, about 2500-3000 trucks were waiting at the parking lots on Saturday.

"There is no rush at all, as the flow of trucks from Dubai and other emirates to the border has almost stopped due to upcoming Eid holidays", Antony said. "Very few trucks are coming now, so there will be no issues this week", said Antony who reached just behind his friend who had joined the queue on Friday morning.

His friend said he took three days to reach the fourth parking (inside border points) because the situation was messy those days. . "But whoever came to the border on Sunday has reached behind us because there has been no rush since Sunday", said Saidu, a friend of Antony.

The drivers said the first two parking lots at the border - the parking lot close to Al Ghuwaifat mosque and Tatftish parking were empty on Monday.

But, Saidu said, still they were suffering the remnants of the crisis. "I can complete the Saudi customs clearance and other formalities by Tuesday evening only; then it will be four days of waiting", he said.

The crisis hit the boarder about two weeks ago due to alleged slow customs clearance by Saudi authorities, according to truck drivers. The Saudi officials expedited the clearance by Saturday and the crisis was resolved, they said.